Men's basketball beats LeMoyne in exhibition

Monday, October 28

Memphis, Tenn.

7 PM

University of Memphis

0-0,0-0AAC

LeMoyne-Owen (Exh.)

0-0,0-0SIAC

LeMoyne-Owen

Memphis

Freshman Boogie Ellis had 18 points against LeMoyne-Owen in Tigers' 88-63 win.

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Oct 28, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Achiuwa scores 21 points, Ellis has 18 in 25-point win at FedExForum

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Freshman forward Precious Achiuwa scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and freshman guard Boogie Ellis added 18 points to lead the University of Memphis to an 88-63 exhibition game victory Monday night over LeMoyne-Owen at FedExForum.

Achiuwa, who had 22 points and 9 rebounds in last week's opening exhibition game win over Christian Brothers University, accumulated his stats in 25 minutes. Ellis also played 25 minutes.

Freshman guard Lester Quinones played a game-high 33 minutes and had 10 rebounds. Freshman forward D.J. Jeffries nearly had a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Memphis shot 51.6 percent and outrebounded LeMoyne-Owen, 56-42. The Magicians were held to 27 percent shooting.

"Another good win for us," said Tigers coach Penny Hardaway. "It's a young team trying to build confidence."

The Tigers outscored LeMoyne-Owen, 47-31, in the second half and shot 56 percent.

Although he was pleased with the victory, Hardaway wasn't particularly happy with how it was accomplished. He was disappointed the Tigers yielded 23 offensive rebounds and committed 19 turnovers.

"There were too many times I saw guys weren't boxing out," Hardaway said. "We knew they were a high-rebound team.

"It's about to get real now. If we don't listen and carry that over, it's going to hurt us in the long run."

Memphis opens the regular season Nov. 5 against South Carolina State at FedExForum.

The Tigers played without 7-foot-1 freshman center James Wiseman, a preseason All-American, for the second straight game because of an ankle injury. Freshman guard Damion Baugh also was withheld after being injured against CBU.

Much like they did in their season-opening exhibition against Christian Brothers, the Tigers gradually pulled away in the second half. After Ellis drained a 3-pointer from the right wing six minutes into the half, the Tigers led, 54-37.

An 11-2 UofM run followed, capped by another Ellis 3-pointer and including six points from Achiuwa. After the Ellis trey, the Tigers led by 24 (65-41)

Memphis opened the game as if it was going to make it a one-sided affair. The Tigers scored the game's first 14 points and led 17-3 with 15 minutes left in half.

But the UofM couldn't pull away from LeMoyne-Owen. The Magicians kept attacking and trailed by only four, 27-23, after a 3-pointer from the right corner by Gjerard Wilson with 5:36 to go.

Three-pointers by Harris and Ellis in the final five minutes of the half allowed the Tigers to build some breathing room – 41-32 – at the break.

Memphis shot 46.9 percent in the opening half and outrebounded LeMoyne-Owen, 31-24. But the Tigers limited themselves with 11 turnovers. Ellis led the UofM with 12 first-half points. Achiuwa had 11 to go with 6 rebounds.